Anomalocaris canadensis Whiteaves, 1892
Arthropoda
Dinocaridia
radiodonta
Anomalocarididae
Middle Cambrian
Burgess Shale
British Columbia, Canada
Length: 1 m
The mouth, the appendages and the body of this animal were originally described separately as respectively a jellyfish, shrimps and a sponge, until it was realized that they constitute different parts of the same animal. Anomalocaris because of its shear size, was then considered the Cambrian equivalent of a super-predator. However, the mouth parts show no evidence of being able to crush hard-bodied animals such as trilobites.
older version here.
September 9, 2015
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